Montpelier Energy Team :Clean Energy Assessment Districts (CEAD)

Topic: PACE Workshop Notes

Notes from the 27/3/2010 PACE workshop put on by VEIC and VNRC.

9AM - PACE 101

A statewide "aggregator" has been proposed/may be planned for Vermont.
- Both Berkeley's and Boulder's PACE programs scaled up quickly; "Berkeley First" into "Cal First," Boulder City's into Boulder County's.
Because PACE is an "Opt-in" program, its funding is not tax-exempt.
Each municipality implementing PACE can set more stringent criteria than was set in Act 45 (Vt's PACE law).
PACE cost is not included in the assessment of a house having completed a PACE project, because...[didn't catch]
Typically, installation of an "energy project" such as solar hot water or solar electricity, does not increase the value of the house.
Vermont's PACE does not require the project's savings to be more than the investment.
VEIC just received PACE funding (to assist municipalities' implementations).

10AM - PACE 202

"consistent with BISHCA" can be interpreted. [...]
A "reserve fund" (funded by participants, to cover costs of any default), can be regional.
Act 45 includes commercial properties, but a town can limit further.
A town can include the cost of assessment in the loan to the owner.
Fannie Mae on PACE: the lien is senior to the mortgage (like property taxes).
- DOE is "nonchalant" about this, because it's paid back bit by bit, and is offset by $ savings.
VEIC intends to produce one form with which to process a PACE project.

11AM - "Show me the money"

PACE measures are 1:1 with incentive-able measures -- i.e. they ALL qualify for tax and/or other incentives.
- one qualification: they must be affixed to the building.
The money flow: municipality->contractor.
Efficiency VT and Burlington Electric Dept -- the two current PSB-appointed energy efficiency utilities (EEUs) -- expect to be able to absorb their costs. That is, to play their role reviewing and approving analyses quantifying a PACE project's costs, energy savings and carbon impacts including annual cash-flow, without passing on any costs to participants.
A PACE town's bond will operate as a line of credit -- the money will be disbursed only as qualified projects come forward.
Actual defaults, nationwide, have been about 0.1%
VEIC just received approximately $100k to assist PACE towns.
Four towns will be working on PACE adoption/administration with VEIC, using EECBG $.

1PM - Starting a PACE in Your Town

Any town's PACE can add criteria over and above Act 45's.
- e.g., though Act 45 doesn't require it, a town can limit PACE-qualified projects to "net-savings" projects.
- No town has yet incentivized efficiency projects over alternative-fuel, but RERC is moving toward this. (note: this seems odd given what RERC does.)
Burlington's PACE team meets every two weeks.
Burlington is considering partnering with other towns.
Burlington is considering in-house underwriting.
Newport (which has adopted PACE) had CEAD added to its Town Plan's language ("Newport should investigate CEAD...")
It was suggested that a town can send a survey around asking "what type of program incentives/restrictions/etc. would you prefer."

2pm - Regional/Statewide Aggregation?

A regional body qualifying as a PACE "aggregator" must be established by public process as a regional government by Vermont's Inter-Local Agreement statute (VSA 24 Chap.121).
- The towns forming such an Inter-Local Agreement need not be geographically contiguous or even proximate.
- indeed, Waitsfield and several other scattered towns formed a joint administrative district. VEIC assisted here.
A charter agreement must be developed by this body before it can be established as such.
VLCT provides assistance to those considering going this route.
4 communities in the Mad River Valley often plan together [didn't catch whether they've been chartered]
Some aspects of PACE work more efficiently when aggregated: e.g.
- processing applications
- underwriting
Others don't, e.g. amending quarterly tax payments.
In an aggregated PACE program, there would be some "matching" commitments for member towns.
VEIC's learning curve with the four towns currently engaging in PACE will inform this subject further.

PACE and Montpeler/MET:

We can apply for VEIC funding (see note above re: $100k funds) to assist us.
VEIC will likely create a "letter" for us to hand to the City Council to state Montpelier's intent to adopt PACE: "we intend to create...". This should be on the VEIc and/or VLCT websites.

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